Chapter 4: The Compass Turns, Destiny Unfolds! (Part 1)

  In the early morning, Yang Tianwen woke up very early without an alarm clock because he had gone to bed too early the night before. He crawled out of the tree hole and retrieved the basin that was placed under some large leaves, which made him let out a sigh of relief as the water level was still barely sufficient, at least enough to sustain his basic needs. Then, Yang Tianwen spent another morning picking up more leaves and making more basins for storing water, just in case. After lunch, Yang Tianwen suddenly had nothing to do. Usually, when he was at home, he would read books to pass the time, but where could he find books here? Although there were no problems for now, what about later on? Yang Tianwen looked a bit bewildered as this was a primitive forest after all, and who knows if some ferocious beast might appear? Yang Tianwen knew that apart from having a good brain, he had no other skills.

  What he held in his hand was the compass that Yang Tianwen had brought with him when he crossed over from space, and Yang Tianwen wasn't a fool. This compass could bring himself safely across, how could it be simple? It must have hidden some amazing power or method to return. In this unfamiliar place, being able to return to his familiar place was better than being worried and frightened here.

  The nine-star alignment, Yang Tianwen thought for a moment and roughly guessed that the compass must have brought himself here because of the nine-star alignment. So, if he tried the nine-star alignment again, maybe he could leave this place. However, Yang Tianwen immediately lost heart, if the nine-star alignment was so common, then this compass wouldn't be used as a chair cushion either.

  After the change, the compass looked completely different from the ordinary ones. Although the structure of Tianchi, inner disk and outer disk were similar, the engravings on it were strange and unfamiliar to Yang Tianwen, like a mixture of flowers and tadpoles. The Tianchi was divided into two layers, with the surroundings showing the directions of east, south, west, and north. A thin column separated the two layers, with a pointer placed on the lower layer, while the upper layer remained blank but transparent. This brought Yang Tianwen the most comfort. With this pointer, at least he didn't have to worry about getting lost due to unclear directions. Moreover, it also sparked his idea of leaving the forest, but after rational analysis, he had to give up.

  Where is the location you are in? If you choose the wrong direction, you will be deeper in the forest, which is no different from looking for death. Yang Tian asked if there was a large area of forest, and it was an intact, untouched primeval forest without any human traces. If you leave here, choose the wrong direction, and encounter a tiger or leopard-like beast, then you're done for.

  So Yang Tian thought carefully for a while and decided that at this stage, he should first stabilize himself before slowly considering leaving.

  Yang Tianwen is a very patient and persistent person. In the past, he had stayed up for three days and nights to study the origin of an antique. Now this compass was almost his lifeline and hope for escape. Yang Tianwen studied it very seriously.

  The outer disk and Tianchi of the compass are nothing special, the key is in this inner disk. The inner disk is divided into three layers, and the tadpoles presented on it are definitely unfamiliar to Yang Tianwen, just like an illiterate person going to a calligraphy exhibition, they all think that those dragon and phoenix-like fonts are paintings. Yang Tianwen felt this way, suddenly had an epiphany, what if these three layers of compass tadpoles were a puzzle? After careful consideration, the first layer has thirty-six tadpoles like symbols, the second layer has seventy-two, and the third layer has one hundred and forty-four, if the three layers are combined in different ways, how many combinations can be made, Yang Tianwen didn't bother to calculate, nor did he have time to calculate, pictures and human feelings are flat overall, if this is a puzzle, why bother to understand a small part of it clearly? As long as they can be pieced together into a complete picture, that's enough.

  Puzzle game, Yang Tianwen has played it before and often plays it because it exercises his mind. However, things are different now. This puzzle doesn't have a reference picture for you to follow. The simplest puzzle is a 9-grid one, but this Luo Pan is different. Not only does it not have a reference picture, but it's also a 252-grid one. Yang Tianwen gently pushed one of the thirty-six symbols in the innermost layer into the Heavenly Pool. Now Yang Tianwen understands why the top layer of the Heavenly Pool was blank. This turned out to be a precise puzzle. Yang Tianwen's fingers started moving, and his brain began to turn rapidly as well. As an archaeology student, puzzles are one of the essential courses because ancient artifacts excavated from historical sites cannot all be intact, such as porcelain vases, which must have fragments that need to be pieced together. However, these puzzles are difficult but at least have clues to follow, and it's possible to use a computer to restore the entire vase into a picture beforehand. Now it's different; what are these tadpole symbols? Yang Tianwen doesn't understand, and there is no picture, making it hard to distinguish whether it's correct from the interface alone.

  Rather than following his feelings, Yang Tianwen had memorized all 252 tadpoles in his mind and quickly combined them into different patterns. This was no easy task, requiring at least tens of millions of combinations. It was thanks to Yang Tianwen's extremely high IQ and powerful analytical skills that he could accomplish this feat. If someone else were to try, it would be impossible, or perhaps possible after spending ten or twenty years on it.

  Three days passed quickly, and finally, at noon on the third day, when Yang Tian asked to remove the last piece of the Heaven Pool, the entire Luo Pan suddenly emitted a soft hum, and an intact tadpole pattern appeared on the entire Luo Pan. The Luo Pan emitted a green light, which grew brighter and brighter. Yang Tian was stunned, until his hand holding the Luo Pan suddenly felt a sharp pain, as if it had been pricked by something. He reflexively withdrew his hand and stood up, taking two steps back.

  He didn't bother with the few drops of fresh blood on his palm, because Yang Tianwen no longer had the time and energy to bother. He was already captivated by the scene in front of him.

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  Chapter 2...